Ain’t That A Shame

Ain’t That A Shame ran another big race in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown on Tuesday. Settled in mid-division early on by Rachael Blackmore and along the inside, he made progress towards the leaders as they by-passed the fourth last fence and raced to the end of the back straight. A good jump at the third last fence saw him move up into third place, and he moved easily into the lead as they raced around the home turn, which is probably around about the point at which he traded at 1.56 in-running. He came under a ride on the run to the final fence, at which he got in tight and lost momentum. He was caught and passed by the winner Real Steel just after the last, but he still kept on up the run-in to go down by just over a length in the end.

It is remarkable that Ain’t That A Shame has not yet won a chase. Now that Gaillard Du Mesnil has got off the mark over fences, he must be one of the best maiden chasers in training. And he has been unlucky, he was just caught by Champagne Platinum in a beginners’ chase at Navan last January, and he was just caught by The Big Dog in the Munster National at Limerick in October. The Leopardstown Chase back at Leopardstown looks like a good target for him now. It isn’t that he doesn’t stay three miles, but he travels so well through his races, it may be that a slight drop back down in trip, to two miles and five furlongs, could suit him well. And we know that he can operate at Leopardstown, and in these big-field handicaps.
Leopardstown, 27^th December 2022